Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Hello, hello! Welcome to the very first Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop with the awesome new team! The talents of these ladies make me want to create everyday so you're bound to find loads of inspiration during this tour. You should have arrived from Patricia's blog and I'm sure she had something wonderful there! I hope you like what you see here, too.

We've had a surge in the births of baby boys in our family over the last year or so...3 to be exact, with one more on the way. We recently had a family reunion of sorts when I travelled back to the East Coast for vacation, and I took along this card and gift for my cousin and his wife who are expecting their first baby in September.

One thing I found exciting in making the set was that none of the elements I used were actually baby-related. However, each phrase and image, when joined together, make for fitting new baby themes. Gotta love the versatility!

The card from LP #3 with the Winnie the Pooh quote about not hurrying is perfect in color and sentiment. As parents, particularly of newborns, I think we're all inclined to wish that our children would hurry up and sleep through the night or not need to nurse so much or that the phase when babies cry for no obvious reason every night from 10-12 because they just can't get it together would please end soon! But childhood--especially infancy--is so fleeting and gone before you know it. There really is no need to rush.

I wanted the expectant parents to keep that in mind so I adhered the Evalicious 'observations' puffy sticker to navy seam binding in the hope that they'll make a mental note. I lined the gift card holder (which is just 2 Life Pages cards sewn together to form a pocket) with crinkled white crepe paper so all they have to do is pull on it and the gift card will slide right out.

It's quite important to collect memories when you have a new little one, right? And I felt like a genius using the 'arrivals' sticker on a new baby card even though it's part of a travel collection, though I'm quite certain I'm not the first crafter who has ever made that connection!

Stars, clouds, circles...I love all those shapes for baby boys, don't you? And those shades of orange and blue compliment each other so well; I especially love them against the greige LP card.

The poor mama-to-be wasn't feeling well the day of the family picnic so I didn't get to see her, but I hope they enjoy their gift set and remember to collect as many memories as they can while savoring each moment with their little guy, instead of wishing it away...

I'm so glad you stopped by today! Have you been encouraged to put the July kits to good use? There are still a few kits left so check out the GB store quick, before they sell out! And up next on the blog hop is my friend Sandra Dietrich's page where I always find something inspiring.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Happy Monday? I'm not so sure. We've returned from vacation and I'm always sad to leave NY because that's where I'm from, that's where my family is, and in my heart, it will always be my home. I'm happy to live in CA with my husband and his side of the family, not deal with snow in the winter, and experience a completely different suburban lifestyle here than my rural upbringing. Here in Orange County we have 5 Targets in a 3-mile vicinity; back in NY the closest one is an hour away. So, quite obviously, there are pros and cons to both places, but, the convenience of Target aside, it's always bittersweet going back to NY for visits because I know leaving will be incredibly hard.

I will tell you that I am so happy to BE home and not be traveling, though! We came back on Saturday and it was not a fun experience...3 out of the 4 of us ended up being sick during the trip and Saturday was the worst for Hoss and Mr. Bagubian. Our journey was 13+ hours. We left my dad's at 9am EST; it's an hour and a half drive to the airport from his house. Then we flew from Rochester to JFK and arrived in NYC at 1:30pm EST. Our flight to Long Beach didn't leave until 6:30pm EST. Not sure if that was a blessing or a curse since most of Mr. B's ailments took place during the layover and by the time we boarded the flight to LGB, he was fine. Thinking it was definitely better to be in the airport, not on the plane, while that was happening. But poor Hoss did not fare so well on the second flight and I'm sure he just wanted to be at home, not in the air for 5 1/2 hours. I think we finally made it back to our house around 10:30pm PST (1:30am EST), which was a very long day. Lest we forget the highly active 2 year old who only slept for 2 hours during the whole trek! But we made it. And worse things could have happened, so we're thankful for that!

Yesterday, Mr. B and Hoss rested up and guzzled Pedialyte while I unpacked, did laundry (yuck!), and cleaned. So I guess it's almost back to normal around here, though a little while ago, we discovered Nemy has a fever of 102.6 so maybe not. She was the only one who stayed healthy during the trip so maybe it's finally catching up to her. At. Least. We're. Home.

Remember that giveaway I had a couple weeks ago (it seems like a lifetime ago now)? The one where I said I was giving away one of my Dunne With Style Wrap It kits? Well, I didn't forget about it and I wasn't teasing you! I've got a winner announcement...

CONGRATULATIONS, JULIE!!!

"I love the wrapping sets. They are beyond cute. I love making fun cards and invitations so I would definitely use that for this! :)"

Thank you to all who participated! If you didn't win the giveaway but would still like to purchase a Wrap It kit, you can find them in the Dunne With Style shop. And I've been LOVING Sam's take on the kit (below)! She just knows how to make a gift look amazing and her gorgeous photos really sell it!

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Hello from New York! We're having a fantastic vacation so far and I'm loving all the family time we're having. We've been busy but the kids are having a blast with all of their cousins so I can't complain about being tired when I see how much fun they're having.

I wanted to pop in quickly tonight and share a couple of my Gossamer Blue projects using the July kits. I'm just giving you an overview since I'm on a foreign PC (my dad's Dell--I haven't used a PC in ages!) and have a super-slow connection that keeps dropping (gotta love the country life!). When we get back home, I'll share more photos and a few more details about the projects themselves.

The first project I'm sharing is a set of summery tags. I made them using the Main Kit, LP Kit, LP Main Add-On, & LP Add-on 3. This month the kits featured products from Shimelle, Crate Paper, Pink Paislee, Seven Paper, and Evalicious. It's another colorful selection this month--I adore all the happy yellow embellishments especially!

Both of the projects I'm sharing tonight take advantage of all the bright and beautiful hues in the July kits. For the second project I used the bold spectrum of shades of Traci Reed's life pages cards to put together some simple mini notes. I love the striking typographic nature some of them have and was further inspired by a sheet of postage stamps I recently purchased, as well as some paint chips.

Once I got into the color, I just kept going, which is somewhat of a departure for me, as I tend to deal with only 3-4 shades at a time. But the inspiration from these kits was a lot of fun--and a lot of color!

We've had perfect weather on vacation so far and I love being under the big open sky and seeing the millions of stars without the glare of the suburban/city lights. I will say, that like this card, it certainly was an adventure to get here, but I'm thrilled we made it and it definitely beats the daily grind of our life back in CA (not that we don't miss that, too, but...)

I'll be back later this month with more photos and details on these cards and tags, as well as 2 more July GB projects...and maybe even some vacation photos! Until then, be sure to check out the July kits--they're bound to go fast!!